95% of Irish women prisoners are sentenced to less than one year in prison, with 75% of female prisoners in Ireland are sentenced to less than 3 months. The majority of the offences that women prisoners serve sentences for are for shoplifting, handling stolen goods and non payment of fines eg: TV licence, so crimes of poverty. These women also suffer from repeated periods of homelessness, untreated mental illness and various substance abuse issues. Approximately 90% have a history of domestic abuse at the hands of their partners. In light of this these women are some of the most vulnerable people in Irish society. To house these vulnerable women in the same facilities as male bodied prisoners is an affront to their bodily safety and personal dignity.
This year for International Women's Day I wrote to the elected representatives in my area outlining the above and asking they act to protect women, one replied. I got an email back saying these people were sentenced according to their gender identity and they were housed according to this, as is the law, basically "shrug, sure what can you do". The simple truth is Ireland doesn't care about the safety of women, the state has existed for a hundred years and for eighty of those women have been placed in mother and baby homes without their consent, gave birth in horrid conditions and then their babies removed and often illegally placed for adoption again against their mothers consent. This only stopped in the 1990's. Rape in a marriage was not illegal until 1992, the first prosecution was not taken until 2002, so it was legal for a man in my country to rape his wife until 1992. Ireland doesn't care about women, in a few decades we will get some mealy mouthed politician apologising and telling us "lessons have been learned" about housing men in women's prisons, just like the clerical abuse scandal, just like Tuam mother and baby home scandals, just like women dying because they were refused abortion care that was medically necessary. "Lessons were learned" meanwhile another generation of Irish women are abused. I'm ashamed to be Irish today.